However, during the last three years, there has been a decrease in the importance attached to environmental protection issues, with priority now given to achieving economic benefits. Environmental problems are no longer mentioned in public statements of the Polish Prime Ministers, or in official documents, such as the "Strategy for Poland" announced in 1994. This document is the first post-communist governmental document forecasting the country's long-term national development. It may have a significant impact on the development of a large part of the Polish economy. However, in this long-term, comprehensive vision of Poland's development, the environmental impact of economic activities was omitted. Recently, a decision has been made that will expand the document, additional chapters have been added that focus on the environment and implementation of this task has been initiated.
Currently, it seems that environmental protection is not as important as issues of employment and economic growth. However, due to the establishment of a separate fund for environmental protection, called the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEP), the environment does not have to compete directly with other sectors for scarce state budget resources.
Attempts to implement integrated planning, and to increase consideration to environmental issues, are undertaken through the policies for spatial development of the country, its regions and local areas. Moreover, a location policy is also being implemented, incorporating rational protection and management of the natural environment. This policy is supported by environmental impact assessments, and the system governing these was recently revised to reduce the role of the national spatial development plans and concepts, and increase the importance of local plans.
Policy implementation at the regional level is performed by the Voivodship (Provincial) Divisions of Environmental Protection, except river basin management, which is performed by the Regional Water Management Authorities; the latter are, to some extent, responsible for the development of regional environmental strategies consistent with the NEP. Enforcement of environmental laws and monitoring of the state of the environment are the responsibility of the State Inspectorate for Environmental Protection. This agency was established in 1980, but did not receive significant powers until the passage of the 1991 law on the State Inspectorate of the Environment. The Inspectorate is composed of the Chief Inspectorate and Voivodship Inspectorates, supported by a network of laboratories. SIEP is the main source of information on the state of the environment in Poland.
To ensure that environmental considerations are taken into account during the privatization process, the Inter-ministerial Team for Addressing Environmental Problems in Privatization was established in 1992 as a joint body of the Minister of Privatization, the Minister of Environmental Protection, and the Chief Inspector of Environmental Protection.
The key institutions which constitute the financial structure of environmental protection and influence environmental investments are: the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, the Voivodship Funds of the same name, Local Funds (established by law but not yet fully operational), and the Bank for Environmental Protection. The ECOFUND Foundation was established by the Ministry of Finance to manage resources generated in debt-for-nature swaps, using these to finance investments of international importance.
The restructuring of the Polish economy has resulted in the activation of both the state and the private sectors. A number of consulting and manufacturing companies have emerged which are active in the field of environmental protection. The trends of the development of environmental sector business activity are presented at the annual Poznan POLEKO fair, where consulting companies and producers of equipment for environmental protection are represented. During the last few years the number of companies taking part in POLEKO has remained high (over 500 companies), with a noticeable increase in the participation of larger and well-established companies.
There are a number of scientific institutions active in the field of environmental protection. Apart from three institutes subordinated to the MoE, there are also a number of other establishments, like the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Scientific activity in the field of environmental protection is also conducted by the universities and in technical high schools which have departments specializing in this field.
There are about 400 organizations and environmental movements in Poland, of which about 36 are actively working on a regional or national scale. The majority of these organizations weren't established until the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, as a result of the liberalization of public life in Poland. Most are small groups, largely composed of young people, and often perform "watch dog" functions at the local level. There are also larger organizations such as the Polish Ecological Club and the Green Federation, the Nature Conservation League and the National Environmental Education Center, which are active on a national level. Furthermore, there are political parties with a declared interest in environmental protection, such as the Green Party or the environmental fraction of the Democratic Union.
Environmental issues receive relatively good coverage in the media, both in the press and in TV programs. They are reported on in daily newspapers and magazines. There are a number of periodicals dealing specifically with environmental issues.
Recently self-governments have become more involved in environmental protection at the local level, but they also try to influence national environmental policy.
Among political acts which will have a substantial influence on the NEP, an important event was the entry into force of the Europe Agreement (1.02.1994) which establishes the association of Poland and the European Union, and Poland's application for EU membership. These political acts oblige Poland to harmonize its environmental laws and standards with those of the EU, and establish close co-operation with the EU in combating environmental pollution. For implementation of this important task, substantial financial and human resources will be required, as it will require a reorientation of all environmental protection activities and the economy as a whole. Another important aspect is Poland's ratification of the international environmental conventions and associated protocols which require Poland to undertake a number of pollution abatement activities.
There are a number of ongoing activities in Poland which will result in the strengthening of environmental protection:
Ignoring environmental considerations in economic development strategy has resulted in a dangerous tendency to duplicate western consumption models, including non-recyclable packaging, a growth in the number of motor cars, and strong development of road transport to the detriment of the rail network.
The changes in the Polish economy have also resulted in increased incentives to decrease the costs of production through more efficient use and recycling of energy and raw materials.
There are also additional state obligations arising from damage to the environment caused by industry in past years, whose elimination will require major investments for which financial resources will have to be found. This results from the fact that polluter responsibility in many cases cannot be enforced (as is the case for the Soviet Army bases or closed state companies).
The basic principles of the Polish NEP are as follows: legal compliance, elimination of pollution at the source, increased involvement of society at large, use of market mechanisms, the polluter pays principle, common problem solving, regionalization, establishment of short, medium and long-term priorities.
In view of past neglect and the substantial investment resources required to improve the state of the environment, the priorities will be implemented with the following three time horizons:
In 1994 MoE prepared the "Executive Program for the NEP through 2000," a plan setting objectives and investment targets for the implementation of medium-term priorities. The basic objectives of the program are the reduction of harmful discharges into the air, water and soil, decreasing environmental threats caused by transport or industrial and transport accidents, the improvement of the state of forests, and an expansion of protected areas. This program calls for a gradual implementation of new economic tools for environmental protection, improvement of existing and newly developed legal regulations, promotion of clean production techniques, development of a new site location policy based on upgraded EIA regulation, further development of the state monitoring system, enforcement of the law, and increasing the environmental awareness of society. It is estimated that the overall cost of implementation of the program will exceed 9 billion USD (in 1994 prices). A weak point of this document is that it does not specify the sources of financing for implementation of these ambitious tasks.
MoE has also prepared a document called "Polish Policy on Sustainable Forest Management." It states that, in view of the existing and expected threats to forests and the growing demand of society concerning all its functions, it is recognized that there is a need to adjust or replace prevailing management and conservation concepts with ones based on sustainable development. This program is a sectoral action plan and, if implemented, will mean a real breakthrough in prevailing practices of forest management which have resulted in further harvesting of valuable forest areas, and the creation of monocultural (pine tree) forest complexes which are susceptible to environmental threats.
The planned activities in this respect will cover 3 main components - technology, education and research - with short, medium, and long-term three time horizons. Each of these components includes a number of specific activities, beginning with seven selected forest areas (covering 5% of the surface of the country), representing a variety of natural conditions. Each of these areas will be subject to an evaluation of its natural values and will be treated as an integral part of the national ecological system. These pilot areas will be called Promotional Forest Complexes. The first one has already been officially established in Bialowieza Forest, which is a primeval forest complex straddling the border of Poland and Belarus, which will be used as an example for establishing the remaining six.
The specific principles of sustainable forest management are: the preservation of ecosystems in a condition close to their natural state, reconstruction of degraded areas, protection of biodiversity, protection of forest soils, incorporation in new species of trees and bushes into monocultural forests, special protection of valuable ecosystem elements (birds, ants, low-level plants, protected species), use of less invasive methods for forest management (e.g. horse transport where necessary), and replacing clear-cutting of trees with selective cutting. Also, the guiding principle for managing forests with unique natural values will be the protection of biodiversity, which will take precedence over logging. Attention will also be given to the improvement of seed quality, reduction of the use of chemicals to fight forest pests, and a wider application of natural methods. Efforts will also address the preservation of small lakes, marshes and wetlands in forests, and will introduce policies to leave about 5% of dead wood in forests for the benefit of fauna.
The economic realities of the country do not allow for full implementation of the statements of the NEP. Because of their weak condition, many state enterprises cannot be regulated by the "polluter pays" principle, since this would mean the closure of many of them (effectively applied only in some of the worst cases). Also, due to the uncertain economic situation, many investors are oriented towards short-term, highly profitable activities, without making an effort to protect the environment.
Nowadays economic policy often overrules environmental policy. A significant environmental impact will be connected with the implementation of the program for construction of a network of motorways in Poland. From the environmental point of view, further strengthening of the railway system would be a better solution, but the need for development of international trade makes implementation of the highway program unavoidable. Another such example is the hard coal mining sector where many unprofitable mines should be closed; however, for social reasons, and in order to preserve the country's energy self-sufficiency, they continue to operate. The NEP hasn't been adjusted to these transportation and energy policies.
A positive economic trend to limit energy subsidies encourages more economical management practices, as well as other solutions which are beneficial for the environment, such as efforts to use geothermal energy, coal-to-gas conversion in local power stations, or the use of liquid gas as a fuel for motor vehicles.
An important area where NGO support is particularly visible is in environmental education. Their activities in this field include organization of seminars, conferences, and lectures for various target groups, as well as organizing actions for the environment. These NGO activities are supported by the MoE which, together with NGOs, has created a group called "Environmental Education," a forum for discussion of the development of an environmental education strategy and forms of NGO co-operation. During the period 1991-1993 the expenditure of MoE and NFEP on environmental education showed some increase (respectively: 1.8; 3.1; 3.1 million USD).
NGOs also contribute to another NEP objective: raising environmental awareness by organizing various events with an environmental focus, such as Earth Day, or "Cleaning of the Earth," which receive growing support from the public and the media.
Institutional participation of NGOs is guaranteed in the process of environmental impact assessments (EIA), which are obligatory for investment projects which have a significant environmental impact. The NGOs are represented in the Commission for Environmental Impact Assessment, which is responsible for evaluation and approval of the Environmental Impact Statements.
A revision to the Law on Protection and Shaping of the Environment would increase the role of local governments in the implementation of environmental protection and sustainable development programs.
The following table indicates some of the improvements.
| Pollution | Decrease as % of 1990 emission |
|---|---|
| 1. Particulate | 23 |
| 2. Sulfur dioxide | 15 |
| 3. Nitrogen oxides | 14 |
| 4. Solid waste | 15 |
| 5. Untreated waste water | 36 |
It is considered that the improvements have four causes:
Intentional human activity for environmental protection is responsible for an estimated 30% of the improvements. However, it is thought that these improvements were achieved using the possibilities within existing production processes. This means that to achieve a further improvement in the state of the environment, major investments will now be required.
To meet the financial needs of environmental protection, a wider application of financial tools (such as product charges and environmental deposits) will be required. The financial instruments which were implemented in the 1970s and the 1980s were fines and charges for the use of the environment. Presently proposals are being prepared for gradual implementation of new tools.
Enforcement of regulations in the field of environmental protection greatly improved after enactment of the law on the State Inspection of the Environment. However, considering the level of revenues obtained by the NFEP from 1991-1993, the following general observations can be made:
There are few possibilities for addressing the poor enforcement rate because of economic and social considerations which do not allow a closure of enterprises with overdue payments. This should be seriously considered when planning measures focused on an improved enforcement of regulations.
The Voivodship divisions of environmental protection perform environmental management functions in their areas, taking decisions concerning the environment, implementing the environmental policy in their region, as well as developing local policies consistent with the NEP.
For more efficient management of water resources, based on the system of river basins, the Regional Authorities for Water Management were established in 1991, with the task of balancing surface and ground water resources. Tasks of the Water Management Authorities include: development of conditions for the use of water from the river basin, rational management of resources, quantitative and qualitative protection of water resources, development of water management programs, examination of investments affecting water management in the river basin, monitoring the surface and ground water quality, implementing methods of leakage detection in the water supply networks, issuance of water rights permits for water transfers, and building flood protection facilities. Seven water management regions were established, and the Regional Authorities for Water Management are directly responsible to the Minister of Environmental Protection. The expected enactment of the new Water Law will greatly enhance their operations, as it includes the power to determine the level of water charges in their areas.
The Minister of Environmental Protection supervises the activities of the State Inspectorate of Environmental Protection which, together with its 49 Voivodship Inspectorates, constitutes the network for monitoring the state of the environment, and enforcement of the environmental law. SIEP undertakes activities for dissemination of information on the state of the environment by issuing numerous publications. SIEP performs a coordinating role for accidental threats to the environment, together with a developed network of co-operating institutions. Also, a register of potential accident threats was created, with information on dangerous materials stored and used in production, and characteristics of threatened areas.
Many hopes for fostering implementation of sustainable development in Poland are connected with the establishment of the Commission for Sustainable Development. This Commission, established in October 1994 by a regulation of the Prime Minister, is composed of representatives (usually at the level of deputy minister) of all central administration offices, covering all sectors of the economy. Its primary task is to ensure integration of economic and social development with the protection of the environment and nature; this is to be accomplished through reaching agreement on measures by different government agencies within the framework of the implementation of economic and social policy, and through participation in the development of environmental programs aimed at securing environmental safety for Polish citizens.
In principle, the activity of these institutions is supported by the state budget, but additional resources for implementation of necessary tasks are supplied by the NFEP, and from foreign assistance programs (e.g. PHARE support for the development of the environmental monitoring system and for taking environmental issues into account in the privatization process, World Bank loan for improving environmental management and the development of forestry).
Studies focusing on institutional development were undertaken, particularly the World Bank loan-supported program for the Strategy of Environmental Management, which included a component of policy development and institutional strengthening. Further, studies on the improvement of the Polish environmental management system were carried out by USEPA and the PHARE Program. On the basis of these materials, changes were made in the internal structure of the MoE, by establishing a new Department for Environmental Policy, which is responsible for developing strategies for sustainable development, and the use of science and economic instruments. Another important change was transfer of the management of foreign assistance resources to the NFEP, a move which should ensure more efficient use by providing full coordination with national financial resources.
Budget support is provided to maintain the whole administrative structure of environmental protection. While the scientific institutes are supposed to be self-sufficient, certain forms of support are still provided from the funds of the Committee for Scientific Research and from the resources of the NFEP. Scientific institutions are now forced to be market-oriented, as they must compete for resources.
One can observe the effectiveness of enforcement by looking at the 80 most polluting plants in Poland. A list of these was made public by the media, and all of these plants were placed under the special supervision of SIEP and the respective Voivodship environmental divisions. By decision of the respective Voivodas (Provincial Governors) these plants were obliged to implement environmentally friendly production technologies and to install environmental protection equipment. The result of these special measures was a 60% reduction in particulate emissions from these plants, a 40% reduction in gas emissions, 70% less COD charge in their waste water, and a 40% decrease in the total quantity of collected waste. The verification of this list in 1994 resulted in the removal of 11 plants from the list that had taken suitable measures for protecting the environment. Three plants were closed, and another five were added to the list. Unfortunately, the cost of this program is unknown, as it was not separately monitored.
Emissions levels are issued by the respective environmental divisions of the Voivodship offices, on the basis of the assessment of their environmental impact. Compliance with environmental standards is controlled by SIEP. There is a system of non-compliance fines to be paid by the polluters based on the type of pollutants discharged into the environment. Non-compliance fines are assessed for all pollutants for which user fees are collected. Generally they are much higher than emissions fees. In the period 1992-1993, SIEP imposed on enterprises 12,000 fines totaling 141.7 million USD, and there were 391 cases submitted for prosecution.
The payment of fines can be suspended if the plant implements investments which will limit or eliminate emission of pollutants to the environment. It was noted that the application of this tool is very successful since 77% of plants which have used this option fully implemented their pro-environmental investments.
The planned revision of the law on environmental protection assumes that a new mechanism for payment of charges will be established. Industrial entities are obliged to calculate and pay suitable charges without the state administration asking them to do so. The accuracy of these calculations and payments will be controlled by the state administration in a spot-check manner. Another important issue will be waiving debts incurred by industrial enterprises that have not paid environmental fines and charges for economic reasons; their debts can be overlooked for the time being, on the condition that current dues are paid in a timely fashion.
Most industrial plants have environmental advisors, and in the last few years their number remained at a stable level.
The law on environmental protection obliges investors to undertake an environmental impact assessment for investment projects which are likely to have a significant impact on the environment. This procedure significantly differs from those used internationally; revision of the respective regulations is now underway, with financing from the PHARE program. An approved Environmental Impact Statement is a prerequisite for obtaining permission for the location of any investment project. The EIA is to be prepared by ministry-approved experts.
Environmental audits are also coming into use. A pool of national experts was trained for this purpose under a World Bank project. Such audits have been implemented in certain plants, pointing out tasks to be implemented for the improvement of environmental management practices.
There are efforts to promote environmental business activities which are important for newly established companies and those which are undertaking market restructuring. Revisions to the law on protection and shaping of the environment would introduce an eco-labeling system in Poland.
A number of activities were undertaken to strengthen technical pollution control. A considerable increase in the production of pollution-control equipment can be noted in Poland, which now has some important producers of such equipment. The new techniques are mostly for end-of-pipe pollution control, including new technologies for flue-gas cleaning, waste water treatment, neutralization of toxic waste and the processing of solid waste. It is important that more Polish-made clean technologies be developed.
On the political level, environmental issues have been addressed by the Polish Parliament (Sejm and Senate). Environmental Commissions were established with the task of revising of all legislative acts connected with environmental protection and to give advice on policy development.
Another important body is the Environmental Council, established by the President of the Republic of Poland. This body is composed of representatives of various agencies connected with environmental protection; its principal task is advising on political issues connected with environmental protection. At the governmental level, the present Prime Minister in his policy declaration mentioned environmental protection only in the context of health protection. Environmental considerations are also absent from the "Strategy for Poland" prepared by the government. In 1994, the Council developed a proposal for supplementing the governmental document "Strategy for Poland" by incorporating environmental considerations into chapters dealing with various fields of the economy, and including an additional chapter dealing specifically with environmental protection.
Environmental protection problems receive regular attention from the media. There are a limited number of radio and TV programs, addressed to young or adult audiences. There are a number of periodicals which deal specifically with environmental protection, but environmental issues are also included in daily newspapers and weekly magazines. The MoE, understanding the important role played by the media in achieving a positive attitude and understanding from the public, gives financial support for environmental programming; MoE officials are often guests on TV or radio programs, and the Ministry frequently organizes press conferences to inform the public of the latest developments in environmental protection. On the other hand, the media play a detrimental role through the promotion of environmentally unfriendly consumption models.
In the political arena, environmental issues were present during the 1993 election campaign, when some of the political parties presented environmental programs as part of their political platforms. However, it seems that these environmental programs have had relatively little impact on the electoral preferences of Polish society. No Green Party representatives were elected to Parliament.
The NFEP's main activity is to provide financial support for investments in the field of nature protection and water management, mostly through soft loans. Support can also come in the form of grants for environmental education, nature conservation, the development of programs and studies, and for geological and mining activities. The NFEP gives preference to solutions which allow comprehensive protection of the natural environment and water resources. The income of the Fund comes from fines and charges for the use of the environment.
The main uses of the funds are:
The list of projects under financial consideration is discussed with the respective Voivodship divisions to determine the priorities and tasks in a given Voivodship. The amount of the loan cannot exceed 50% of the total cost of the investment; the investor must arrange for the remainder to be contributed by other sources.
Another important institution financing environmental protection in Poland is the ECOFUND, which has been established to finance projects aimed at the reduction of emissions of gases causing acid rain, and of so-called greenhouse gases, as well as projects reducing the use of controlled substances by Polish industry. The overall amount which could be achieved under eco-conversion is about 3 billion USD, and its full use could mobilize a further 6 -7 billion USD from other sources, according to ECOFUND estimates.
Financial institutions active in the field of environmental protection set their own criteria for the selection of priority investments, in accordance with their particular statutes.
The selection criteria of the NFEP are as follows:
ECOFUND applies the following criteria:
as well as:
Priority is given to the following kinds of projects:
Not more than 30% of the total investment cost can be provided by the ECOFUND (for municipal investments up to 50% and in nature conservation and environmental education up to 80%.)
In the case of both NFEP and of ECOFUND, a technical description, an economic analysis, and a timetable for implementation must be submitted.
An important achievement was the establishment of the Bank for Environmental Protection, which gives preferential credits for investments in environmental protection; as the bank operates on a commercial basis, the NFEP covers the difference between market and preferential credit rates.
Resources of these environmental funds serve as "seed money." In the past year, for each currency unit provided for environmental investments, four more have been attracted from other sources.
In 1990-1993, NFEP investments reduced annual emissions of sulfur dioxide by 246,000 tons, nitrogen oxides by 5,000 tons, particulates by 120,000 tons, and carbon monoxide by 50,000 tons. According to SIEP estimates these amounts are 9.0, 0.5, 6.2 and 0.6% respectively of their 1993 values. In the water protection sector, construction of new waste water treatment plants increased overall capacity by 3.1 million m3/day, and 846 km of sewer mains were installed. The capacity of water retention reservoirs increased by 127 million m3, water supply mains increased by 356 km, and the capacity of water treatment stations by 182,000 m3/day. In the field of land surface protection, Poland achieved an increase of the capacity of municipal dumps by about 7.5 million tons, which helped to alleviate the serious shortage of capacity.
In view of the fact that investments in environmental protection are capital-intensive, it appears that the existing system for financing environmental investments is efficient in the short run, as it addresses the most urgent infrastructure investments. However, the existing financial system is not able to efficiently address the cost of restructuring the sector, which could be the first step towards sustainable development.
For this reason a formula is being sought to finance large pro-environmental restructuring of the industrial sector. There is a growing need to involve large commercial banks in financing environmental protection activities; because of the traditionally large doses of grants and soft credits in this area, banks could not compete in this sector. Other obstacles for commercial financing are: a lack of knowledge of environmental laws; a lack of a strategy on the part of banks towards environmental investments, due to the relatively weak position of the national environmental policy; difficulties in assessing risk in environmental investments due to poorly developed environmental criteria for assessment of the investment projects; lack of environmental criteria for the assessment of credit applications.
The last review of NEP implementation took place in 1994 and showed that considerable progress has been achieved in the implementation of its short-term priorities; this has resulted in a significant improvement of the state of the environment. For each of the priority areas a number of investments was completed, including:
The changes in the economic and social situation required certain changes in the NEP. The first revision was undertaken in 1992. The 1994 evaluation of the results of NEP implementation will call for further upgrading to enforce stronger environmental management, although this document has largely maintained its validity.
NGOs, scientists and businessmen are invited to participate in Advisory Councils to the Minister of Environment. They can provide comments on draft environmental regulations that will be proposed to the Parliament or passed by government decree.
As a further step, an extension of the "Strategy for Poland" with the issues connected with environmental protection will be required, to ensure that this long-term development strategy will be based on sustainable development concepts.
Considering the priorities mentioned in EAP for Central and Eastern Europe, the following remarks can be made concerning the Polish situation:
For the achievement of further progress in environmental protection, the following activities will be implemented:
Currently, about 47% of the financing of environmental investments is provided from environmental funds, and about 41% from the resources of enterprises, local administrations, and private users; only 7% comes from the state budget, and 5% from foreign assistance. In the future, a further increase in participation of private and commercial sources of financing is required.
There are no essential contradictions between the Polish NEP and the EAP for Central and Eastern Europe. It should be possible to use the EAP to develop a more structured approach to solving environmental problems in Poland, which will assist meeting the objectives of the NEP.